Human Fallibility Exposed in Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat's Cradle Essay

Human Fallibility Exposed in Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat's Cradle Essay

Essay Preview

Oscar Wilde, an acclaimed Irish Poet, novelist, dramatist and critic once aptly commented, “Men become old, but they never become good”. The philosophical aspect of this quote relies on the basis that human beings are inherently malevolent. Through his pessimistic perspective, Wilde clearly captures the ill-disposed mindset of mankind. Moreover, there are various deductive arguments that discredit the optimistic depiction of human nature. One of the prime examples can be found in Kurt Vonnegut’s literature. In Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat's Cradle, through the illustration of his characters, the author symbolizes the four elements of human fallibility.

Through the portrayal of Felix Hoenniker, Vonnegut satirizes that innocence does not necessarily equal harmlessness. In chapter 7, Newton Hoenniker writes about his father to Jonah, “After the thing went off, after it was a sure thing that America could wipe out a city with just one bomb, a scientist turned to Father and said, ‘Science has now known sin.’ And do you know what Father said? He said, ‘What is sin?’ (13). Felix’s ignorance toward the moral responsibility that accompanied his nuclear weapons research become blatant. Furthermore, Felix’s lack of judiciousness emblematizes his shallowness. Integrating such a concept promptly fills Vonnegut’s intentions of illustrating the destructive nature of innocence. The author elicits that impeccability found in Felix Hoenniker can be deleterious. In order to understand how these circumstances lead to a worldwide disaster by the end of Cat’s Cradle, it is of paramount importance that one conceives Felix as the epitome of a scientist who researches for knowledge with little or no concern for the application of that knowledge. In chapter 33, ...

... middle of paper ...

..., he equates sexual attraction with "love"; this results in his awkward boko-maru ritual. Mona performs the boku-maru ritual with John, much to his delight. Afterward, they declare their love for one another, and John tries to forbid her to love or perform boku-maru with anyone else (126). Due to his setting of firm rules for Mona, Vonnegut points out John’s haughtiness. This ultimately causes Mona to call him a sin-wat, a man who demands all of someone's love, and refuses to marry him.

Kurt Vonnegut thoroughly analyzes negative aspects of human nature. Through his constant satire and cynicism, Vonnegut points out how each individual represents various elements of human frailty. A prominent author of the comic strip Calvin & Hobbes, Bill Watterson, pertinently comments on the topic of the psychology of mankind, “The problem with people is that they're only human”.

Need Writing Help?

- The Cruel "joke" of Life Exposed in Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle Cat's Cradle is set up like a series of comic strips, with satirical commentary found in the last "panel". What, then, could we conclude is the accumulative punchline for the entire novel. What does Vonnegut give us for his "last laugh". If we attempt to answer this question, we must first try solving the answers to "what is the joke?" and "who is the joker?" It seems Vonnegut's characters are the victims to the cruel "joke" of life.... [tags: Vonnegut Cat's Cradle Essays]

- Vonnegut's Nihilistic Views Exposed in Cat's Cradle If humans strive to fulfill their void, of a lack of meaning in their lives, their folly will blind them from the truth. Kurt Vonnegut portrays his inner emotions and feelings of the insignificance of religion through the characters of his novel, Cat's Cradle. His satiric approach to a subject that many people base their daily existence upon, challenges the readers faith. As people search for a deeper meaning in their lives, the more confused they become.... [tags: Cat's Cradle Essays]

- Paradoxical Nature of Life Exposed in Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle Kurt Vonnegut's apocalyptic novel, Cat's Cradle, might well be called an intricate network of paradox and irony. It is with such irony and paradox that Vonnegut himself describes his work as "poisoning minds with humanity...to encourage them to make a better world" (The Vonnegut Statement 107). In Cat's Cradle, Vonnegut does not tie his co-mingled plots into easy to digest bites as the short chapter structure of his story implies.... [tags: Kurt Vonnegut Cat's Cradle Essays]

- The Masterpiece of Cat's Cradle Kurt Vonnegut, critically acclaimed author of several best-selling novels, uses self-expression and psychological manipulation to stress to the reader his beliefs and ideas dispersed within the context of Cat's Cradle. From reading this novel, one might attribute perplexity pondering over the plot and general story line of the book. Cat's Cradle entangles itself in many interesting changes of events; strange outlandish ideas and psychological "black holes" can be found with just the flip of a page.... [tags: Cat's Cradle Essays]

- The Satire of Cat's Cradle Cat's Cradle is, "Vonnegut's most highly praised novel. Filled with humor and unforgettable characters, this apocalyptic story tells of Earth's ultimate end, and presents a vision of the future that is both darkly fantastic and funny, as Vonnegut weaves a satirical commentary on modern man and his madness" (Barnes and Noble n.pag). In Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut uses satire as a vehicle for threatened self-destruction when he designs the government of San Lorenzo. In addition, the Bokonists practice of Boko-maru, and if the world is going to end in total self destruction and ruin, then people will die, no matter how good people are and what religion peop... [tags: Cat's Cradle Essays]

- Satire and Surrealism in Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle In 1963, Kurt Vonnegut published his second novel Cat's Cradle. It is a distressing yet satirical critique of our society and the surrealistic end that is its destiny. Through his use of irony and sarcasm he attacks and exposes society's flaws while questioning its intelligence. Nothing is safe from his satiric pen. He attacks science and religion with equal intensity. He creates a novel that has left, "an indelible mark on an entire generation of readers" (back cover).... [tags: Kurt Vonnegut Cat's Cradle Essays]

- Black Humor in Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle The phrase Black Humor has the broad meaning of poking "fun at subjects considered deadly serious or even taboo by some"2. This definition is simple, and yet embodies an important idea that is often lost in more complex definitions: the idea that Black Humor can actually be "fun", and provoke laughter. This is not, of course, the only important aspect of the term, and I shall explore some of the other important defining features of Black Humor before moving on to discuss its use in Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle3.... [tags: Cat's Cradle Essays]

- Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle vs Our Assumptions Regarding War, Progress, and Religion If one of Vonnegut's purposes for writing is "to poison minds with humanity" (qtd. by Scholes, per Griffin), then the weapon of choice in Cat's Cradle, is satire. Cat's Cradle "poison[s] minds" only by revealing the toxins that are already present in the system. Vonnegut's brand of satire serves as a sort of syrup of ipecac on human folly, and if we are "to make a better world" as he would have it, we should understand how truly virulent human enterprise can be.... [tags: Vonnegut Cat's Cradle]

- Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle Vonnegut deals a lot with fantasy in his book, Cat's Cradle. From the beginning, he talks about the religion that he follows: Bokonism. This is not a real religion, however he has rules, songs, scriptures, and opinions of a person that practices this fantasy religion. Within his description of this religion however is black humor as well. I think that by him making up this whole religion and an entire island of people who follow it, is in a way mocking today's religion and the way that people are dedicated to their beliefs.... [tags: Vonnegut Cat's Cradle Essays]

- The Human Vaccination Modern medicine has proved that the best way to prevent the contraction of a disease for humans is to inject a tolerable amount of the virus into the host and let the individual's immune system build a defense capable of withstanding future invasions of the same strand. The small pox vaccination, for example, has eliminated the disease from almost every nation on Earth. But what if the disease is psychological, a way of being or state of mind rather than a physical aberration.... [tags: Cat's Cradle Vonnegut Essays]